Penny Learns to Love
by inxpitter
Summary: A short story about Penny's growth as a person. Since romance is not my forte, any advice or review would be welcome. I do not own RWBY.
1. Chapter 1

This takes place the day after Volume 2 Episode 4. I highly recommend watching it (and everything else) before reading this.

* * *

Penny was overjoyed. She was allowed to return to her wanderings, and Ruby had gotten away from the Atlesian guards yesterday without incident. Her father reminded her to stay away from the students at Beacon Academy, but surely that didn't apply to best friends?

Normally, she would be content to let her legs take her where they may. But today she was on a mission.

"Hmm, not here either."

Penny moved from the main streets, to the alleys, even checking the dumpsters in case Ruby had discovered a new part of herself.

"Ruuubyyy," she called, "Where are yoooouuu?"

_**Scanning: target not found. Adjusting searching parameters….**_

"Penny?"

She looked out from the alley she was searching and saw Ruby with a very confused look on her face.

"Salutations best friend!" Penny greeted excitedly, rushing to Ruby. She embraced her tightly, happy to see her friend so soon after yesterday's incident.

"P-Penny," Ruby choked out. "Please. A little less squeezing."

"Oh, sorry." Penny released her hold and Ruby fell to the ground.

"I really am sorry," she repeated offering Ruby a hand.

"It's fine Penny." She took the hand her peculiar friend offered her, and pulled herself up. "Its all part of being…um…a special person."

"You're the best!" Penny exclaimed, going for another hug. She stopped herself as she saw Ruby flinch in response.

_**Flinching: negative response to actions. Adjusting behavior patterns…**_

Instead, she clasped Ruby's hands in her own.

"So your dad wasn't too mad at you making a scene?" Ruby asked.

"Oh no. He was worried about my safety, but he told me he was proud of my decision."

"That's good." Ruby let out a sigh of relief, as she gripped Penny's hands. "I was worried you might get in trouble."

Penny could feel her processors accelerating, and quietly opened a few sub-dermal vents to get rid of the excess heat. Odd, this usually only happened during intense combat training or when she was under large amounts of stress.

_**Warning: mental actuators stress increasing. Levels remain at acceptable levels…**_

"You okay Penny?" Ruby asked, looking concerned.

"Absolutely!" Penny replied, a bit too loud. She paused for a moment, and then continued.

"Ruby, would you like to go on a date today?"

"Wha-" Ruby asked in surprise. "Um, Penny, do you know what a date is?"

"It's a day for friends to hang out with each other, isn't it?"

"No, no. It's when two people like each other very much and go do something together."

"But I like you a lot."

"It's a different kind of like."

"I don't understand…"

Ruby thought for a moment, trying to find the right words.

"You like me right?"

"Of course," Penny immediately replied.

"Well, imagine liking me so much that its double or triple what it is right now."

Penny tried to imagine such a thing. Her emotions were still in the prototype stages, but it seemed inconceivable to her for her affection to go past what it already was.

"I think I understand," Penny said, still trying to process such a concept. "Then would you like to spend time as best friends today?"

"Sure Penny, if you don't mind coming with me on a few errands."

"I'm escort ready!" Penny said, excited.

* * *

Penny was ecstatic to be spending time with her best friend. Ruby had come to town to pick up some combat supplies and Penny was more than happy to help.

"Ruby," she began. "Is there anything I can do to help with your errands?"

"Not really," Ruby replied, looking over her list. "All I need is a few cartridges of ammunition and I should be good. Pyrrha recommended a shop to me so that's where I'm going."

"But I can run a price comparison of all available stores in Vale, and find you the best deal."

Penny stopped and closed her eyes.

"One moment," she requested before beginning her search.

_**Compiling all pricing documentation available in a one-hundred kilometer radius…**_

"Penny, really, that isn't necce-"

"Done!" Penny opened her eyes and smiled at Ruby. "The cheapest bullet to lien ratio is located at a small town forty kilometers Northeast of here."

"Um, Penny? I need to buy these today."

"Then in the local area….got it! A small shop called Keen Edge, run by a Mr. Heptus. It is located three blocks to the west."

"Keen Edge? I think that's the shop Pyrrha recommended to me."

Penny's smile dipped a bit as Ruby confirmed the address Pyrrha had written out for her.

"Thanks for price check anyway," Ruby said. "Now let's get some ammo!"

Penny walked slightly behind Ruby as she followed her friend to their destination. Perhaps the books she had scanned were wrong, and girls were more content to fight monsters rather than be princesses. Penny couldn't imagine shirking her duty so she could be a princess, but it might be nice to save a prince. (she watched Ruby balance on the stone edgings of the sidewalk, testing herself to keep balance) or princess.

The Keen Edge was a tidy little shop, and the old man that ran it was a bit odd. He kept eyeing Penny in way that didn't set off her danger sensors, but made here uncomfortable nonetheless.

"Hee hee hee," Rwby was chuckling to herself as she looked into her bag of newly acquired bullets. Penny made a mental note, girls preferred bullets to bouquets.

"Ruby, you seem to have an unnatural affection for firearms," Penny observed.

"I wouldn't say unnatural," Ruby replied, embarrassed. "Our weapons are a part of us. I don't think its wrong to love your own body."

"I see," Penny held herself. "I should love my body even if it's a weapon."

"Oh Penny," Ruby gave her a hug, pressing her face against Penny's hard body. "You're not a weapon, you're Penny, and that's just the way I like it."

_**Warning: Mental actuators stress increasing. Elevating to abnormal levels. Immediate systems assessment advised.**_

Penny began to hiccup uncontrollably. An alarmed Ruby let go, and asked if she was all right.

"I'm fine (hiccup)," Penny said. "I think I might need a system's (hiccup) check."

"Should we call your dad?"

"I'll send a message. He should (hiccup) come to get me soon. It would be best if you weren't here when he (hiccup) arrives."

"Well….if you're sure you'll be fine."

Ruby gave Penny one last worried look and started to leave.

"Ruby?"

She turned back.

"Yes Penny?"

"Can you (hiccup) explain what love is again?"

"Um…" Ruby wracked her brain, trying to come up with a better definition than her previous one.

"Please Ruby, its important."

Ruby collected her thoughts, and began speaking.

"It's like a bunch of opposites coming together," she began. "You want to be near them, but you feel like running away at the same time. You look for them wherever you go, but don't want them catching you looking. I guess…its someone who makes you so happy it hurts."

_**New data added…**_

"I see, thank you Ruby."

Penny calmed down as Ruby got further and further away. She watched her reach the corner; take one last look back, and then wave goodbye. Her processers started to slow, and her hiccupping eventually ceased.

"Ruby," Penny spoke softly. She placed her hands on the part of her arms where she felt Ruby held her. She couldn't feel the warmth of others, but she could remember the sensation.

_**Sensation recorded. Adding file to 1/ folder…. **_

It was a secret her father had given her, much to General Ironwood's chagrin, to encourage the development of an identity. There were only a couple other files in the folder at the moment. One held a series of snapshots from her day with Ruby. Another held several voice files of Ruby conversing with her.

Penny stood there, unmoving, trying to process all the data together. She closed her eyes as an image began to appear, layering all the photos together to create what Penny could clearly see was a three dimensional figure in her mind. The figure began to speak, but no sound came out. She watched as the words from their conversations filtered in, filling the sentence slowly but surely. She realized that some Atlesian guards had found her already, and were asking for her to follow them, but she needed to hear this first.

" Pe….ve….u."

"Penny…I…ve….you."

"Penny I love you."


	2. Chapter 2

RWBY Fanfic

Continuation

Learning Love part 2

Penny was not used to feeling uncertain. She had analyzed several hundreds of romance novels and watched series after series of romantic comedy vids. Penny was sure that Ruby would prefer a basket of bullets to one filled with puppies, and she did not have an ailing grandmother Ruby could help assist across a road.

She had spent the last few days wandering the streets of Vale as usual. Each street corner she rounded brought the anticipation of a surprise meeting. Every piece of red clothing held her attention for moment longer. Yet, it seemed like Ruby had not come to town today either. It should be expected; Ruby was training hard at Beacon and didn't have time to come see her each week.

"Gah! I said I'd only take five minutes Neptune!"

A disgruntled faunus was making his way down the street holding a map of the city. From the tail and his general gait, Penny deduced he was a monkey species of faunus.

"Excuse me, do you need assistance?"

The young faunus gave her an odd look, she could see him sniff the air.

"Yeah actually," he finally said before handing her the map. "I've been trying to find out where this Beacon place is, but my teammate left without me. Think you can help me out?"

"Of course!" Penny answered enthusiastically. "Just give me one moment."

**Accesing archive….Downloading local mapping data.…Point of interest [Beacon] located….Compiling direction data….**

"Uhhh."

The young man was still holding out his map for Penny, who was staring off into the distance. He stepped closer and examined her curiously. He once again sniffed at her curiously, wondering why this human didn't have a scent on her.

"You okay in there?" he asked as he tapped her shoulder with his finger.

"No need to worry!" Penny answered loudly, causing the blonde faunus to stumble back. She pointed down the road.

"You go down three blocks this way, take a right, four blocks down from there, cutting through the city park will save you five minutes, then just go down Forest lane for two blocks, take a right and the airship station should be on the left."

"Uhhhhhhh."

"Would you like me to take you there?"

"That would be awesome."

* * *

Penny was excited as the airship touched town at Beacon. Her father had explicitly told her not approach the campus before the festival officially began, but surely that didn't apply when she was helping a visitor?

"Wow, this place is huge!" Sun exclaimed. The blonde faunus had introduced himself as Penny acted as his guide. He seemed carfree enough, though Penny believed he was carrying some contraband. But that could wait until their next meeting.

"Yes it is!" Penny agreed, marveling at the campus.

The other passengers started walking towards the center of the campus, so Penny and Sun followed suite. It seemed as if most of them were participants of the festival, students that had travelled from across Remnant to test their skills.

"I think I see my teammates over that a-way," Sun told Penny. "Thanks for all the help. Hope to see you at the tournament!"

She watched Sun leave, and found herself alone. The large crowd that had got off the airship had dispersed, and so she walked on. She was familiar to Beacon Academy's layout and buildings from the video surveillance.

She was inside the first year dormitories when she had reached the limit of her accessible knowledge. If what she could research was correct, Ruby's room would be somewhere near her.

Foosteps echoed down the hall. A clack of heels, and thud of boots. Penny, not wanting to be discovered, hid inside the room she didn't detect heat signatures from. Still, the footsteps grew closer, louder. Penny looked around the room for a place to hide, and settled for under one of the beds. A few moments later, two people entered the room. The girl with familiar black boots sat on the bed Penny was hiding under. The other, was standing in front of her.

"I told you not push yourself too hard."

"Owowowow. I said I'm sorry."

**Voice recognition activated….first speaker identified [Weiss Schnee]…..second speaker identified….[Ruby Rose]….**

"Let me see it," Weiss commanded. She and Ruby

"Okay, just don- OW!"

"Come on. You can take a few hits from an Ursa. (pause) It looks like its just a sprain."

"How am I going to do combat drills with this?" Ruby asked.

"Here."

Penny could see Weiss walk away to where she had set down her rapier. There were several clicking sounds and soon she was back to Ruby.

"A sprinkle of ice dust should help with the swelling," Weiss told Ruby. "You're going to have to rest and let it heal naturally."

"I still have one good arm."

"Don't make me encase your arm in ice."

Penny could hear Ruby pout above her, and smiled to herself. She was so adorable, like a budding flower. She checked her internal clock, and hoped that the pair would leave soon. As much as she would love to pop out and surprise them, she felt that this might be crossing a line.

"So Yang and Blake…?" Ruby asked.

"They're going to keep training for a bit longer," Weiss answered.

"Um…" Ruby started, hesistant. "My mom always kissed my injuries when I was younger."

"Oh?" Weiss responded, a hint of teasing in her voice. "But you aren't a child anymore."

"Right," Ruby agreed, dejected. Penny stifled her surprise when she felt another weight land on the bed.

"We all agreed to be more open with each other right?" the heiress asked her leader.

"Right," Ruby replied, softly.

"So if you want something, then come out and say it."

There was a silence. Penny remained motionless, wishing more than anything that she could turn her sensors off for once. For the first time in her life, she wanted to shut down, to turn off all access to the outside world. But only her father had that control. Which meant she couldn't stop hearing and recording everything that was occurring.

**Analyzing noise patterns….Heavy Breathing….Light contact of skin….Soft moan….Gentle creaking of mattress springs….**

* * *

Penny eventually found an opportunity to leave. However, she could not help replaying the audio of her time under the bed. It was ironic, the only information she wished to know was the intensity of their pleasure, but that remained a mystery to her.

She walked silently home, not bothering with her usual chipperness. Something was wrong inside her. There was a pain that needed maintenance immediately.

"I can't find anything anywhere," the mechanic told her, as he examined her software and hardware components.

"Please keep checking," Penny asked him. "There is absolutely something… something wrong."

"I don't know, this is the fifth time I've checked. Normally you could just tell me where the problem is."

Penny shook her head.

"Then the only thing I can think of is a reboot," he suggested. "You know, restart you from this morning and see if the problem goes away."

Penny fell silent. Her memories were the only thing that made here human, but was being human worth this much pain?

"Your call," the mechanic said.

"Penny thought for just a moment longer, and gave him her answer.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ Sorry about the short release after a skipped week, but midterms and such equals lots of studying. But I am interested in if you liked this update. Feel free to leave some feedback as I read everything.


	3. Chapter 3

Something had happened.

**Searching Archive…..Searching…..Searching…..Complete. Data log not found.**

Penny had gone over her logs, the mental and mechanical records of her inner workings and there was a discrepancy. The mechanics had told her repeatedly that she had requested it herself, but that couldn't be right. She had few free days to wander around Vale and she had planned to spend it with her most treasured friend in the whole world.

"Ruby.."

But that had been two weeks ago, when she had last left protective custody. Why would she voluntarily erase being with her most important person?

She was feeling slow today. A system reboot was by no means a small decision to make, whoever had made it. Even two weeks later, she had flashes of images and sound, remnants of data not completely wiped out. They were…. confusing. She thought she caught glimpses of Weiss, Ruby's teammate, and a faunas with a tail? What had happened?

Well, the past was the past. What was important was Ruby had invited her to spend the day with her and her team. She could feel the glee in her steps as she made her way through the front doors of Beacon Academy.

"Salutations!"

"Penny!"

Penny embraced Ruby, keeping her squeezing pressure at an acceptable level, before letting her go. She was beaming.

"It is _so_ good to see you again," Penny told her. She also waved to the rest of team RWBY that had risen from the dining hall table.

"And now we can get started!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Get started?"

"To play Hunting Season," Yang explained. "Ruby used to play it all the time with her classmates at Signal Academy. She thought that since we're actual huntresses now, it would be more fun to play."

**Uplink connected…. SEARCH: Hunting Season…..REFINED SEARCH: Hunting Season, Game….. Downloading…. Complete.**

The rules of Hunting Season were simple as it was designed as a fun training exercise for those planning to become huntsmen or huntresses.

As a variation of Hide and Seek and Tag, the available players would split into two groups of Hunters and Grimm. Players have a small ribbon tied to their person for the duration of the game. If someone removes your ribbon, you're eliminated.

Team Grimm would start out with a four to one player advantage to Team Hunter. Both teams may use semblances, but only Team Hunter could use weapons meaning Team Grimm would have to use their numbers to their advantage. At a set interval, all eliminated players rejoin the game as Grimm. The surviving team is the winner.

"So who is playing?" Penny asked.

Almost the entirety of the dining hall raised their hands in response. This was indeed a very popular game.

Ruby was barely containing her excitement and exclaimed loudly, "Let's Play!"

* * *

And there they were. Penny and Ruby lay motionless in the brush on the outskirts of the campus.

"How much farther Penny?"

"They will be crossing in front of us in four minutes."

"Heh heh heh."

Ruby quietly laughed as she waited in anticipation. As part of Team Grimm, surprise was their best weapon and Ruby was waiting anxiously to pounce.

Penny was of a different mind.

"Ruby…?"

"Uh huh?"

"Was I with you two weeks ago?"

"I think so…you helped me run some errands remember?"

"The day after that, I mean."

"Ummmm, I don't think so. Yeah, I was with Weiss the entire day."

Penny could feel her processors start accelerating, and her commands were not going through.

**Error...Internal Temperature Rising...Warning...System Core Vulnerable...**

"Penny?"

**Error…..Re-initializing…..Error Re-re-rr-reinititit-Rer-rrrrerrrrrrrrrrr….**

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**….Re-Restoring system operations….Merging data archive….Stabilizing…System Restored….**

Penny's eyes snapped open as she found herself on her back gazing up into the trees. She could feel her internals move erratically as she once again processed the information she had thought she purged.

"Penny?"

Ruby was to her side looking worried. Ruby.

"You stopped talking and wouldn't move. I thought about calling someone but I wasn't sure if you wanted anyone else to know your secret."

"Thank you Ruby."

What was this feeling? This agonizing sensation that screams something is wrong. It felt like there was a jagged piece of rusted metal inside and she could claw it out if she could just reach it. And every time she looked at Ruby's face, she could feel the twisted metal turn ever so slightly.

"The pair that were coming this way already passed, but that's fine. If you need help getting back to your dad, I can go with you. Now that we're all at Beacon we can play Hunting Season later."

"I'm so sorry."

"Oh Penny, its not your fault."

She lay there processing looking up to her best friend, her only friend. And now she wanted to be so much more. To be her most cherished friend, but to not. To run away, and to stay by her side. To go back to the way things were, and to tread slowly into these new sensations. It was just so confusing.

"Ruby, I'm full of opposites right now."

"Huh?"

"Ruby….I think….I love you…"

The words hung in the air. Ruby coughed and smiled awkwardly as if ready to laugh off a joke, but the look on Penny's face, the steadiness of her gaze convinced her not to. Ruby hid her face behind her hands and rubbed up and down as she thought. Penny was patient. She could wait for her best friend, her first love to answer her.

And finally Ruby spoke.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Hey all, busy busy busy. Had someone message me about this story and found my old rough draft. Not the longest or the most interesting, but I cleaned it up and decided to post it. Hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a comment or review. Thanks :D.


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